Taiwan: China has missiles in South China Sea

USA network Fox News said China had moved surface-to-air missiles to the Paracels.

Ms Bishop has been in official talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday in Beijing canvassing bilateral relations, economic ties and strategic issues.

“Western media is lying” he said, urging “foreign press” to instead focus on “China providing public services” in the region.

“The military will pay close attention to subsequent developments”, the ministry’s statement said.

Taiwan said on Wednesday that China had positioned anti-aircraft missiles on a disputed South China Sea island claimed also by Taiwan and Vietnam and watched closely by Washington.

“Interested parties should work together to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea region and refrain from taking any unilateral measures that would increase tensions”, Maj.

A United States official said the HQ-9 defence system is similar to the S-300 missile system used by Russian Federation. Images from civilian satellite company ImageSat International show two batteries of eight surface-to-air missile launchers as well as a radar system, according to Fox News.

Tensions over China’s claims in the South China Sea have risen over the past year or so as Beijing embarked on an project to reclaim land and build artificial islands in disputed waters in the Spratlys.

“We discussed the need for tangible steps in the South China Sea to lower tensions”, Obama said, calling for “a halt to further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas”.

The new bases are also highly vulnerable to US attack in a conflict and the USA will continue to defy Beijing by sailing its Navy ships inside China’s claimed territorial waters, said Edward N. Luttwak, a China expert and military strategist based in the USA state of Maryland.

“The U.S. military has flown surveillance flights around Chinese-claimed islands, which China has called a violation of its sovereignty”, Frank reports.

Secretary of State John Kerry says there is increasing evidence of militarization by China in the South China Sea.

Woody Island is part of the Paracel chain, which sits east of Vietnam and southwest of Taiwan.

At a regular news briefing Tuesday, ahead of the news of the missile deployment, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei responded to a question about Beijing’s facilities in the South China Sea by saying that China has the right to defend itself, but that won’t disrupt freedom of navigation.

“We have deep concerns over such actions and want to re-emphasize that Japan can not accept it”. “China is under tremendous pressure right now with the conference in Sunnylands and the U.S.-[South] Korean discussion over the THAAD deployment” he added. While not the most advanced SAM system in the world, if it has indeed been deployed to Woody Island then this would be the most advanced long range air defense missile now deployed to an island in the South China Sea.

Areas of the South China Sea are believed to hold vast reserves of natural resources, including mineral wealth and fish, and hosts shipping routes through which passes around US$5 tn worth of trade each year.